As part of its study, the committee held a workshop at the Instituto Nacional de Salud Publica (National Institute of Public Health) in Cuernavaca, Mexico, in September 2004. The purpose of the workshop was to sample global perspectives on the current advancing technology landscape.

Experts from different fields and from around the world presented their diverse outlooks on

• advancing technologies and forces that drive technological progress;
• local and regional capabilities for life sciences research, development, and application (both beneficial and malevolent);
• national perceptions and awareness of the risks associated with advancing technologies; and
• measures that have been taken, or could or should be taken, to reduce the potential for misapplication of technology(ies) or malevolent purposes.

This report summarizes the formal and informal discussions held at the workshop.